Coffee making device



Oct. l1, 1938. y E. H. slELlNG l 2,133,178

COFFEE MAKING DEVICE 1 Filed Jan. 11,'1937 Patented Oct. 1l, 19,38 A

UNITED :sT-Aras Anx'rial'rr orner. w

'2,133,118 i, J COFFEE MAxrNG DEVICE Edward H. Sieling, Chicagorll.Application January 1.1, 1937, Serial No.7119,9 95

3 Claims.

objects of my invention to provide instrumenlojtalities whereby a vacuumcoffeefmaker may be readily converted into a'. device for makingcoffeeby the drlp" method. In the use of my invention the coffee may be madeby either of 'the methbds above mentioned. One of the instru mentalitiesemployed'in my. combination coieemaker is a unique filter structure thatembodies a strainer element and a novel retainer member for holding thestrainer in-desird relation. to the bowl. The retaining member is shapedin. a

manner that permits the strainer -to be .readily assembled upon it' to.be removed therefrom' and when assemble the structure nay be quicklyggd easily seated in its proper place in the upper 'I'he primary objectof my invention is to provide an apparatus that is capable of operatinglin the manner herein set forth to accomplish the purposes for which ithas been designed, .and to do this in an effective and dependable mannOther objects are to provide a coffee-maker that is novel inconstruction; compact inthe design. and assemblage of thevpartscomprised in its make-up; dependable Jin operation; simple'. and sturdyin the formationwof its parts so that .it

will not readily get out of order ;r easy,to manipu-- late and operate;and' whichv is economical to manufacture so that it may be soldtotheuser f for a. reasonable retail price.' Numerous other s objectsand advantages will be apparent to per-y 40- sons skilled in the artafter the construction and operation o f my inventionis understood fromthe following disclosure. I prefer to accomplish theobiects of myinvention and t'o practice the same in substantially the mannerhereinafter fully described and as more particularly pointed out intheappended claims. The accompanying drawing is referred to for abetterunderstanding of the construction and operation of my invention. g

In the drawing-z I 1 Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation partly insection. and illustrating the manner of using they `structure for makingcoffee by the vacuum, method. 55 Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1and illus viencev in handling the structure, and a suitable (Cl.21o-162).

trating the manner vof using the structure forl making coffee by thedrip method. v r Figure 3 isa.l view in perspective of the retainerspring for mounting the strainer.

Figure 4 is a'vertical elevation of the spring.y Figure 5 is afragmentary plan of ringlike lower portion of the spring, taken on line5--5 of Figure 4.

The drawing is somewhat schematic for the purpose of showing a typicalor preferred eml0 bodiment of my invention', and in said drawing similarreference characters are employed to in tle different views.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2l it will be seen the identify like parts-wherever such partsv appear 4structure embodies an upper,bowlshapedmember I0 having a. wide opening at its top and a central `somewhatrestricted discharge opening I I in its bottom' that communicates withan elongated tubular spout I2, depending from the bowl, that isremovably inserted into and through the restricted neck yor throat ofthe lower bottlelike container I3. A suitable hand-grip I4 embraces theneckof the container I3 for conven` 25 y gasket I5 surrounds the upperportion of the spout to provide an air tight seal with the neck thebrewing of v cated at IStwards the top o f which an annular outwardlyextending bead is formed which affords a seat I1 for one of the filtershereinafter de-r scribed in detail. 'Ihe outward flare 'of the bowl 35wall is continued above the seat to a trans-axial.

' plane approximately onethird the height of the bowl where said wall isgiven a somewhat ogeeshape in cross-section to provide a second annularseat I8 for the other of the filters hereinafter described. Beyond andabove the ogee formation tliebowl wall in cross-section bulges outwardand` upward and then extends in a wide slightly inward curve toits opentop. j 'I 'he stfainers and their retainers are of sub- 5115 stantiallythef'same formationwith exception that they are of'dilerent sizesordimensions. The smaller strainer structure which is mounted -in theseat I'l embodies a fabric disk I9 the oircular marginal portion ofwhich may be provided i with a. ,pull string for drawing the edgeinwardly or may be stitched on a puckering machine, both methods tendingto shape the fabric into a shallow cup-like'member with an inwardlyextending them with their soft downy surfaces towards each 4 other sothat the mesh or fabric surfaces are outermost.

The means for removably mounting the.

strainer in its' seat i1 is a wire holder shown in detail in Figures 3,4, and 5. A piece of wire is shaped, intermediate its ends, into a splitring 20 with the end portions of the ring overlapped a suitable distanceas at 2i. Reverse, or hairpin, bends 22 are then made in the wire sothat short arms 23 are provided extending tangent to the bends, and atthe outer'ends of these arms the wire is given sharp angular bends orbreaks 24 to dispose theremaining end portions 25 of tlie wire upright,or substantially upright, to provide suitable grips for operating thedevice. Oppositely disposed oblique bends 26 form converging terminals27 at the upper portions of the grips 25 and bring the ends of the wiretogether where they are linked to each other by interlocking eyes 28. Itwill be seen the arms23 extending oppositely past each other from thereverse bends 22 are well within the circumference of the ring 2U tothereby dispose the upstanding grips 25 in off-set relation inside thering, and the portions'of the device from the sharp braks 24 up to theeyes 28 incline inward toward the axis of the ring to position the gripsnear the center of the bowl and remote from the walls thereof. Also theportions 2|, the reverse bends 22 and the arms 23 are quite flatso thatthey are made to overlap in a smooth manner as suggested in Figures 3Vto 5. The overlapping of the parts does not interfere with their easymovement but rather assists inguiding them during contraction orexpansion of the spring ring, and the lateral arms 23 at the lower endsof the grips are free and unsecured, and thus avoid the employment ofguiding elements which inherently tend to bind if the wire becomesdistorted or pressure on the grips is exerted in a. sudden manner. 'Ihusthe lower ends of the grips may be moved past each other to materiallyreduce the ring dimensions.

To mount the strainer on the holder, the grips 25 are pressed towardseach other to reduce the dimensions of the ring so that it may beinserted through the puckered portion or lip of the strainer, afterwhich the pressure on the grips is released and the ring assumes itsnormal or substantially normal dimensions, The strainer and holder mayreadily be placed in the seat I1 by slightly contracting the ring 20 bymeans of the grips 25 until the desired position is secured and uponrelease of the grips the ring will expand radially into the widestportion of the seat. The ring at all times acts as a spreader for thecup-'like strainer and assists in removal of the latter from the bowl.

As before stated, the structure for the upper 'coffee is brewed by thedrip method which conground coffee that had previously been placed uponthe strainer, and, in order to prevent formation of a vacuum in thelower container a gasket having one or more longitudinal grooves orchannels I5a is substituted for the ungrooved gasket employed in thefirst-described arrangement.

The provision of a channeled or grooved gasket, such as shown in Figure2, permits the user to regulate the time required to brew the coffeewhen using the drip method because the channels control the out-flow ofair from the lower container and consequently regulate the speed withwhich the water trickles through the strainer and the ground coffeethereon. It is of course feasible to use a. channeled gasket of softrubber so that it may be forced into the neck of the 4containerdifferent distances thereby producing different degrees of constrictionof the channel.'

It will be understood the bowl and the container may be produced fromglass, metal, porcelain or any other suitable material. The strainerfabric may be a single ply or several plies superposed upon each otherdepending upon the choice of the user.

` With the present structure the coffee may be readily prepared byeither of the methods described according to the desire of the personpreparing the same, and it is therefore unnecessary to have on hand thetwoA different types of coffeepots. The parts of the strainer structuresare made in a manner that permits utmost freedom of movement of the.parts without liability of binding when being compressed or expanded.

'The specially constructed gasket interposed beweak, medium or strongaccording to the pare,

ticular taste of the consumer.

What I claim is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a retainer device embodying a splitring, the end portions of said ring having oppositely facingsemi-circular bends extending into the confines thereof in overlappingrelation to each other, short arms disposed tangent to the free ends ofsaid bends and extending in opposite directions away from each other tolie alongside adjacent portions of said ring, said arms and bendsproviding U-shaped flat loops thatrare movable independently of eachother and all portions of which arefree from interlocking relation, andfinger-grips at the 'ends of said arms opposite said bends, eachA .gripdisposed adjacent that portion of the ring at which its respective loopis formed.

' 2. As'an article of manufacture, a retainer embodying a length ofwire'the intermediate por; tion of which is formed into a split ring,the rereverse bends extended inwardly at the ends of vthe ring vandhaving tangent portions disposed alongside the said ring, the free endsof said tangent portions being relatively close to respec- 1 mainingportions' of the wire formed into flat' tive end'portions of the ringformed with the respective reverse bend, and upstanding .iingerz gripsat the free end s of said tangent portions.

3. As yan article of manufacture, a retainer device embodying a lengthof wire the intermediate portionof which is formed into a split ring,the remaining portion of the wire at one end of the ring formed with aflat reverse bend extended templates the pouring of boiling water overthe into the ring and having an inner 'tangent arm 75 9,138,118 e a 3 falongside the ring with its free end adjacent the respective end of thering; the other remaining portion of the wire at the other end of thering formed with a fiat reversebend extended into the ring and having aninner tangent arm alongsid'e the ring with its free end adjacent therespective end of the ring; said reverse bends and tangent armsproviding superposed loops all portions of which are tree frominterlocking relation with each other; and upstanding linger-grips atthe free ends of said tangent arms.

EDWARD H. SIELING.

